Page 10 - June 2017 Newsletter

While driving to work and contemplating my article for this issue of Chicago Lodge 7 Maga- zine, my phone rang. The caller, a retired FOP member, asked me if I had read that morning’s Sun-Times article, dated May 30, about City of Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson.
In the article, Joe Ferguson urges Mayor Emanuel to seize a “generational moment for Chicago” by renegotiating union contracts and
to cut costs and improve city services. Ferguson’s suggestions include re-examining family healthcare contributions, which are currently capped for most city workers at half the rate of private sector workers. Ferguson’s blueprint also includes the tightening of the rules that govern secondary employment and accumulated compensatory time cash payouts upon retirement. Throw in the fact that Ferguson also wants to re- examine uniform allowance, tuition reimbursement and duty availability.
But wait a minute, Joe. Let’s take a close look at these claims. First of all, your background is in employment discrimina- tion, civil rights and government fraud. Second, policing is not getting easier in the city; it is getting harder and more dangerous. Living in Chicago is also getting more expensive. Police receive duty availability because their days off are of- ten canceled and their starting times changed. Just over the Memorial Day weekend, days off were canceled for members throughout the City. Perhaps it would be better if Ferguson
would stick to his areas of expertise, rather than issue reports about contract negotiations.
My retired FOP friend was upset about Ferguson’s report. Many members were. But I told my friend and any member who asked me that Ferguson’s claims will not have any im- pact about how the FOP will negotiate.
Here is a topic that Ferguson should address instead: pro- motional exams. They are a mess, and there are chronic com- plaints that they are tainted. Rather than making wild claims about contract negotiations, Ferguson, as Inspector General, should answer this question: Why, asks Dr. Jeff Bernstein of Bernstein and Associates Test Prep, is the Chicago Police De- partment the only one in the country in which test results are not publicly released?
How about a review of the company that conducts the tests, Ernst and Young? Isn’t it about time the Inspector Gen- eral made sure that the company is doing everything it can to make sure the tests are legitimate?
Then there is the matter of subject matter experts, which began in 1998. There were five exempt rank members who participated in creating the exam. Was this a fair process? Did it allow access to the content of the test for some members prior to the test date? Members throughout the City have their suspicions about it.
Contract negotiations are upon us. I don’t put too much faith in Ferguson’s report. It won’t sway the tactics of the FOP. Rather than listen to Ferguson, we’ll listen to the members. d
First Vice President’s Report
Whoa, Joe
PAT MURRAY
10 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JUNE 2017